I love Italy. I love it for all the cliche and expected reasons....the people are warm and (mostly) kind and friendly. The weather is milder than the weather I was so reluctantly used to. The scenery is gorgeous...it is the most beautiful place I have ever known. Each day I see another painted landscape or cityscape. The food is phenomenal, fresh locally grown vegetables and olive oil, hand made pasta....I love it here.
Keeping in mind that like everywhere else in the world, life is not a perpetual vacation. There are problems, as there are elsewhere. Young people are having great difficulty finding a sustainable way to make a living. This little town of ours, like so many, is suffering also from Covid backlash. No one could predict that or escape it, so we persevere.
There is one aspect of living here full time, though, that is not so beloved and that is also something Italy is famous for...bureaucracy. OMIGOD!!! There are times I want to scream, punch a wall, just freaking vent for the stupidity of it all. Today was one of those days.
Once a year we have to renew our national health care. Since we are expats, since we have enough....we pay the maximum price each year to be covered until December 31. That includes...everything....tests, office visits, hospitalizations, lab tests, prescriptions. We don't pay another dime for anything. It costs approximately $150 American dollars per month for each of us. We pay it gladly.
The one big inconvenience is that it cannot be done online, it has to be done in person. The reasons for this, although explained to me, remain murky and somewhat ridiculous. But, nevermind. In the past we had our Italian teacher go for us, because she has a personal friendship with the guy whose job it is....and she got it done in about five minutes with no problem and we paid her and thanked her for her time and that was that. She is, we recently found out, not vaccinated. She cannot enter the building. *!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say, I was upset, disappointed and also angry...that she did not tell us...that she is not vaccinated. What to do??? I can't walk there....it's a quick drive, but I did walk there once and it took me several days to recover.
My dear, sweet friend and neighbor across the street drove me there this morning. Our dear, sweet young friend (and insurance agent and vice mayor of the town) had called "the guy" and so he was aware that I would be there.
*View of Penne from the ASL entrance. It looks so far away...but is literally a 3 minute drive.
So! We got there...bright and early, a gorgeous, crisp, cold, clear blue sky morning. I had everything...passports, fiscal codes, payment receipt, old health care cards, permessi (expired due to Covid...the government is backed up due to the impact of the virus.)
The guard barely glanced at me, did not care to look at my "green pass" that proves I am vaccinated. I went right in. Stood in front of the door to the office where "the guy" was supposed to be. It had a big sign to wait outside because only 2 people could enter at a time. I had no idea if anyone was inside and made a mental note to myself to check in a few minutes if there was no sign of activity.
Very shortly, "the guy" came along...he wasn't even in the damned office...and I snagged him. "Come with me," he said. He kept flipping between English and Italian which happens to drive me crazy....I need to be on one train at a time, so to speak. Literally,....so...to...speak.
Anyway...off to another room down the hall where there were two young women at desks with plexiglass screens. I had a seat. I filled out a redundant form asking for name, address, date of birth, place of birth...choice of doctor. Did one for my husband, too. Forged his signauture,..shhhhhh!!! Va bene.
Handed over the passports, old cards, fiscal codes, silly forms, and permessi...these are our permits to stay, which are at this point, officially, expired. Although we did everything correctly, the appointment is waaaaaaay late, toward the end of February. (It should have been in September.) What we do have are the proofs of appointment and proof of payment. Supposedly, these are "official" enough to even travel out of the country. But they posed a problem for health care. Go figure.
"Something, something, something....doctors are in competition...something, something...I don't know the word....(he did not know the word "expired")
"SCADENZA! Si! Capito! Perche Covid!!"
....blah, blah, something...so...you get a paper card (rather than plastic) that is good for three months. After that, have your friend call, and we will issue another for the rest of the year."
"I paid for the year."
"Yes, yes...that is not a problem,,,
"Not a problem.....then why no card?"
"E complicato" No shit.
The final word was "burocrazia"....bureaucracy. The infamous and internationally well known bureaucracy. I was given reasons that made no sense....I cannot even form them into coherent sentences...although they were delivered to me in understandable words that did not form, to my mind, a reasonable thought.
We have our health care...for now....and our young friend has been apprised of the situation. We will soon get our boosters and later head to the Questura for our new permessi.
Besides the magnificent views, the spectacular blue skies, our wonderful friends...we had a wonderful meal of turkey tettrazini, green beans and warm rolls.....here at home, warm and cozy.
Outside the ASL, just outside the entry doors, is a little area of wild roses. They are blooming....in the middle of January. Holding their little heads up to the magnificent sun even though I would wager they get no care whatsoever. But they persevere.
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